The Lazarus Effect
by ReikoMizutani
Summary: Amanda Ikufube had loving parents, a sweet little brother, and all seemed well with her life. A fatal accident changed her life for the worst. Months before her nineteenth birthday, she receives her parents' old laboratory as inheritance, and when she explores it, she finds the remains of her mother's work. She decides to test it out, and her life is further thrown into chaos.
1. Chapter 1

_August 17, 1991. 3:30:42 PM_

"Mr. Ikufube?"

Christian Ikufube looked up at the smiling nurse who stood before him.

"The birth was a success, and they've been moved to the first floor. You can join them now." The nurse beckoned to him, and they both walked to the room, Christian trembling in excitement.

The tiny baby in his wife's arms had tufts of white-blonde hair on her head, big brown eyes that shone with curiosity and was wrapped snugly in a pink yarn blanket.

"She's beautiful." Christian whispered.

"Our little Amanda." His wife, Ame gently stroked the baby's cheek. Amanda blinked, gurgled as she looked at her parents, then closed her eyes as she drifted into sleep.

The two new parents laughed. Both mother and daughter were exhausted, and Ame soon fell asleep herself. Christian stayed up all night cradling his little girl.

* * *

 _October 31st, 1997. 7:05:52 PM_

Amanda Ikufube ran out of her house, her purple princess dress dragging on the ground. Her mother Ame chased after her with an orange pumpkin bucket and a plastic tiara.

Christian, Amanda's father, watched them from the doorway of the house, cradling a baby boy in his arms. The boy's name was Shotaro, and he'd been born two months prior. The birth had been considered to be a miracle, as Ame had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer the year prior, and the pregnancy was originally thought to be a large cyst. Despite the slim odds, Shotaro was a healthy baby, just as his big sister had been when she was born.

Amanda was unaware of her mother's sickness. The elder Ikufubes wanted Amanda and Shotaro to enjoy their childhoods without worrying about Ame's failing health.

Thus, as Amanda was running down the street, Ame slowly trailing her, she assumed her mother was fine. She never expected the tragedy that would befall her three years later.

* * *

 _April 2nd, 2000. 11:27:37 AM_

Christian Ikufube sat heavily down on the old, lumpy brown leather couch that Ame had fallen in love with when they'd first moved into their house. Amanda slept soundly in her room, and Christian couldn't bring himself to wake her with such awful news.

Ame had gone to the grocery store to pick up eggs and flour so they could make pancakes for breakfast that morning. She'd taken Shotaro with her, as she and Christian couldn't get him to go back to sleep and they didn't want him waking Amanda. They'd made it to the store just fine, but when Ame had turned onto the street leading back to their neighborhood, trouble came racing in.

As Ame was turning onto the street, a blue Corolla was careening down the street. The driver was a sixteen year old girl, and she was desperately trying to grab her burger before if fell apart onto the floor. The resultant crash killed both Ame and Shotaro, but the girl survived the ambulance ride to the hospital. She lived for two more hours, then died with her mother holding her hand and sobbing loudly. Christian didn't have that opportunity. The bodies of his wife and son were so mangled, they were only able to be identified through Ame's ID card.

The police had left an hour ago, leaving Christian to give Amanda the bad news. He had no clue how to say it. He felt Amanda, though only nine years old, was old enough to understand the gravity of death. The question was, could she be able to heal over time?

"Daddy?"

Christian looked up with red, teary eyes at his daughter. Her hair was all over her face, and she rubbed her eyes sleepily.

"Daddy, where's Taro? He wasn't in bed when I woke up."

"Oh, Amanda. I know this is going to be difficult to accept, but there's no undoing this..."

* * *

 _August 25th, 2005. 8:33:21 AM_

"...And do you, Christian Ikufube, take Tamara Lazarus to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"

Christian smiled down at the lovely blonde who stood across from him. Once a colleague, Tamara Lazarus was now to become his wife. They had met two years after the deaths of Ame and Shotaro, and the two fell in love almost instantly.

Amanda hadn't been pleased. Now at the age of fourteen, she still wasn't pleased. Even after Christian insisted that Tamara was not trying to, and never could replace her mother, Amanda still would not accept her. In a way, she blamed her father for not having her mother and brother stay home. She could have lived without pancakes for one morning. In fact, the young teen now hated pancakes with a passion. Tamara had made the mistake once, and only one of making pancakes for her and Amanda for breakfast to try and bond with her. The result was the angry young girl screaming at her and flinging all the plates on the floor, then disappearing for the whole day. Her punishment for that was having her bedroom door removed and all of her electronics taken away.

Now, she sat in one of the many pews, next to her maternal grandfather, Rokusaburo. She glared at the happy couple, wishing the stupid wedding was over so she could go home. Her grandfather had promised to take her home right away so she could go to sleep and forget about the stupid bitch for one day.

 _"Grandpa, can we please go now?"_ Amanda begged in Japanese.

He shook his head, smiling. _"Why can't you be happy for your father, child? You know as well as I do that he loved your mother dearly."_

 _"If he loved her, he wouldn't be getting remarried."_ After what seemed like forever, the bride and groom kissed, and the priest announced them as Mr. and Mrs. Lazarus.

Amanda grimaced. Just another thing she hated. In two weeks, she would no longer be Amanda Ikufube, and her last connection to her mother would be gone.

"Amanda!" her father called. She ignored him and pushed through the crowd, practically dragging her grandfather with her.

"Amanda!" The girl ignored her father's cries as she wrenched the car door open. Rokusaburo turned towards his former son-in-law, and gave him a sad smile, then opened the driver side door, and disappeared from sight.

* * *

 _April 1st, 2008. 10:11:52 PM_

Amanda Lazarus cackled loudly as she stuck her head out of the large black van's front passenger door window. In the driver seat was her best friend Christina Valen, who smiled wickedly as they raced down the highway. In the middle passenger seats were Christina's older twin sisters, Caroline and Cathrine. Their mother Candice had an annoying fondness for 'C' names, at least when it came to the girls. Their younger brother was named Joe, after their grandfather.

"How much money have we got so far, Tina?" Caroline shouted towards her sister.

Christina preened, and shouted "Over two stacks! Two more stores and our total for the month should be at least ten thousand!"

The girls had been robbing tiny corner stores and family owned businesses for cash for over two years now. The girls had accumulated a little over one hundred-thousand dollars, and by some miracle had not yet been caught. On top of the robberies, Christina and Amanda would often team up and shoplift at high brand stores, pawning their finds on EBay and the likes. Out of bitter spite, Amanda had pawned off some of her unwanted stepmother's jewelry and made big money off of it. The woman had cash, but Amanda wasn't going to suck up to her to try and get an inheritance when the old bag died. No, she wanted to make money her _own_ way. The _criminal_ way.

* * *

"Amanda?"

"What. The fuck."

Amanda glared at her stepmother, not pleased to see that her getaway with her friends would now have an unhappy ending. She and the girls had been relaxing in the jaccuzi at the Four Seasons of Beverly Hills. With the money the girls had earned that month, $605 a night was no big deal.

"Now I understand why Mrs. Valen was so confused when I said none of you had been at the house in days. Amanda, your father and I have been worried sick about you. You could have at least called."

"I don't need a whore like you worrying about me. I'll apologize to my father later."

"Amanda, this is not how a future valedictorian should be acting!"

"Mrs. Lazarus?" Amanda spit the name out with as much venom as she could muster, "I wouldn't talk down to me if I were you. In fact, I'd go back to my room and tell my father the trip has been canceled."

"You know very well I will not be doing that, Amanda. Your father and I are both tired of all this acting out. Once spring break is over, we're going to make sure all of these disappearing acts come to a halt at once!"

Tamara tried to turn to leave, but found her pathway blocked by the Valen sisters.

"Sorry, Mrs. Lazarus." Christina said in a creepy monotone, "I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

Cathrine flicked out her switchblade. "What should we do with her, Mandy? Should we make her disappear like Jodie's mom?"

Amanda shook her head, flicking out her own blade. "No way. She should suffer, as I have suffered for the past eight years. Let's see how long it takes to _break_ her."

The girls closed in on Tamara like a pack of hyenas, all of them laughing at the older woman's frightened expressions. Amanda's rang loudest and the most painful.

Tamara had had enough. "What have I done to deserve this, Amanda? All I've ever done is try to be a mother to you!"

"So what? You never will be my mother no matter how hard you try. I've only ever had one mother, and I'll never see her again because your little sister _killed_ her! Over a fucking _cheeseburger_!"

The only person who hadn't let out a surprised gasp was Amanda. She held Tamara's frightened gaze. After all these years, Tamara had never expected to see the family of her sister's victims. She'd never known who they were, but the fact that she'd been living with them, married to one of them...she felt sick.

"Amanda, I'm so sorry. I didn't know-" Tamara was silenced by the blade now embedded in her shoulder.

"Tell your sister I said 'hi' when you see her in _H_ _ell_."

* * *

 _June 2, 2008. 9:45:45 AM_

"Jodie Langston!"

Amanda gulped softly as Jodie plodded onto the stage. The past few years of crime and not caring about life had finally come crashing down once she'd returned home to her father. She silently finished her school year, working hard to make her father proud, to make up for the coldness she'd shown him since his second wedding day. It was the least she could do, now that he was mourning the loss of his second wife.

She wasn't dead, Amanda hadn't had the heart to kill her once she saw the regret in Tamara's eyes. She had told Caroline and Cathrine to run off with her and dump her somewhere. The threats made towards the elder Lazarus were enough to make Tamara divorce Amanda's father and disappear off the grid.

"Merrick Lasserman!"

Amanda took in a deep breath. She and Christina had freed themselves from their criminal pasts, most of their stolen money had been taken by the twins and the younger girls had been left with a little over $2,000. Christina and Amanda had both taken office jobs that started a week after graduation, they'd soon become law-abiding citizens after the twins' disappearance. Not a phone call or text since the girls ran off. Amanda felt so bad for Christina. She could see how much she missed her sisters.

"Amanda Ikufube!"

Amanda held her head up high, and proudly walked onto the stage. She insisted that the school principal use her original last name, in honor of her mother and her brother. She once again got a huge round of applause from her senior class peers, the first time having been after her valedictorian's speech. She'd worked hard on her speech, and her class had clearly enjoyed it from all the cheers and applause. Amanda preened just thinking about it. She'd fondly spoken of the good times and bad times, and she tugged at the heartstrings of the friends and family of the Valens. Of course, she was genuinely sad that Christina had pretty much lost two of her sisters, but being the manipulator she was, she used their disappearance to her advantage in her speech.

 _I am a highschool graduate now. Crazy how much things change. Soon me and Chris will be pencil pushers. Wow._

* * *

 _June 6th, 2010. 10:55:55 PM_

"Mandy, are you sure we should be down here?"

"Yes, Tina. The lab is mine now, and I have to see this for myself."

The two young women crept into the top wing of the abandoned laboratory. Amanda's father had suffered a heart attack earlier in the year, and passed on, leaving everything, including the laboratory to Amanda. Amanda's first order of business was to reopen the lab and change the name from Lazarus Labs back to Ikufube Labs. She wanted every trace of the Lazaruses gone from her life. She'd been able to convince her father to change his last name back to Ikufube before his death, and she was more than happy to be carrying her mother's last name once more.

"What's even in here that you can use? What do you want anyways?"

"I want my inheritance. I will bring this laboratory back to it's former glory, and I will make sure that Tamara Lazarus has no say in the matter. My father told me the cryonics machines were in here."

"And I'm the last queen of Scotland. Can we just go home?"

"No!"

Finally, they reached the spot Amanda was looking for. The Ikufube Wing, her mother's research wing where she started building the Kouri Machine. It was her mother's biggest project, as she'd always dreamed of creating a way for safe cryonic freezing.

Amanda slowly opened the door into the room with the machines. They were all covered, and looked creepily enough like coffins. This wasn't right. Her mother's blueprints showed large ovals for the subjects to be frozen in. She'd even created a suit that could withstand the temperature required to induce stasis.

Christina lifted up one of the cloths, and inhaled sharply. "Amanda, come look at this."

Amanda joined her friend on the far side of the room, and saw what she was talking about.

In large, silver letters, it read: _LAZARUS DEVICE._

" _What?!_ No! No, absolutely not!" With rage in her eyes, Amanda ripped down every cloth covering up the machines. Each one of them had the same silver lettering, the same terrifying coffin-like look, every one of them betrayed her eyes as the name of woman she hated most glared back at her.

"You mother was a brilliant woman. It's too bad she never got to finish them. Well, too bad for you at least."

The lights flickered on, and Tamara Lazarus made her way into the room, locking the door behind her.

"What are you doing here? This is MY laboratory!" Amanda glared at the older woman.

"Goodness, did noone ever teach you to share? This place has been my home for the past two years."

"Well now I'm kicking you out! Leave!"

The woman said nothing, continuing to make her way over to the machines. "It was amazing how far your mother had come in such a short amount of time. Of course, my sister went and ruined your life and by extension mine. I had everything, and I would have given you everything if you'd have let me. Christian writing me out of the will hurt a lot."

By this point, Amanda was seething. Tamara chuckled lightly.

"Look at you, you must really want me gone, don't you? Fine."

At that moment, Tamara pulled out a gun and shot Christina in the shoulder. The elder girl cried out, and fell down, gripping one of the machines for support.

"You have three choices. One: I put a bullet in your brain. Two: I let the police put a bullet in your brain. Three: You-"

Amanda grabbed a large metal pipe and smacked the woman over the head with it.

"Three: I take back what's rightfully mine." Amanda ran over to Christina, taking off her shirt and wrapping it tightly around the wounded woman's shoulder.

"W-what the fuck do we do now?" Christina stuttered, shaking violently from the pain.

"I-don't know. If there's a chance that Ms. Lazarus has police on her side, we need to find a way out."

The women sat there, Amanda nursing Christina's wound the best she could with what was in the lab. After what seemed like hours, Amanda came to a descision. She'd typed up a long explanation of what had happened since they'd arrived at the lab, and with that, she'd processed two copies a video recording of the first thirty-five minutes of their journey into the lab. It was enough to show Tamara Lazarus shooting Christina, then cut off after that. Amanda thanked her lucky stars that she was so into surveillance that she had a small spy cam she carried around with her constantly.

"Can I tell you something? Something you don't want to hear?"

Christina glanced up at her friend. "What?"

"We're completely fucked if we don't get in those machines." Amanda opened two of them up, throwing one of the suits at Christina and yanking her own clothes off as quickly as she could.

"Wait, what? What are you talking about, Mandy?"

"I've walked around the whole top floor of the building. We're surrounded by police. We have to get in the machines."

Amanda had gotten the suit on, noting that it was cool on the inside and felt almost like a diving suit.

"Wait, stop and think Mandy! These machines are giant human coolers. You're telling me you want us to risk our lives, knowing we could possibly never be found, just to get away from the police?!"

Amanda sighed. "Fine! You want to be buddies with the piggies, go ahead. I'm not staying here."

"Amanda!"

The younger girl ignored her, gathering up the original Kouri Machine blueprints, the typed up letter and one of the SD cards containing the videos. She placed the items into the many pockets of her suit, then looked back up at Christina.

"You're really going to do this?" Christina looked at Amanda with deep sadness in her eyes. The two of them had gone through so much together, only for their future adventures to come to a grinding halt.

Amanda nodded firmly. "Tell everyone what happened to me. Tell everyone where I am so I can be found ASAP."

Amanda placed the hood of her suit on, then laid down in one of the open machines. Christina slowly looked over the blueprints and instructions, making sure to follow them to the T.

The cover of the machine closed up, and several needles injected Amanda with different medicines and fluids. Slowly, she felt herself drifting off, and she said her first and only prayer.

 _Please God, let me be found..._


	2. Chapter 2

_August 25th, 310. 5:45:55 PM_

Dr. Valen peered down into the hole where the excavation team had spent the last two hours digging. It had appeared that they'd finally dug up what they were looking for. The men and women of the team slowly pulled up what looked like a large glass coffin. The cover was completely frozen over, and they couldn't tell if something was actually inside or not. This was the tenth one they'd dug up, but the first to look like it had been in use.

"Ah, so they've finally gotten it out?" Dr. Valen jumped slightly at the sound of Dr. Cable's grating voice.

"Oh! Good morning Dr. Cable. Yes, it seems they've finally found it. It looks like it's been in use too."

Dr. Cable simply nodded.

* * *

"Well team, this is it. This may very well be a life changing moment for all of us."

A group of nurses all stood around Dr. Cable as the technicians all scrambled to figure out how to open the machine. This was the only one still in working order, all the others hadn't even been activated.

Finally, someone pushed a specific set of numbers on the machine, and it let out an ear-splitting siren as the locks for the cover all snapped open.

 _"Warning: Lazarus Device stasis shut down._ _Subject 81791 to be awaked in fifteen minutes. Administering proper medicines."_

The cover slowly opened, and before their eyes was a human figure in a black suit. It was completely still.

"Is-is it dead?" One of the nurses piped up.

"We can't be so sure, Nurse Alexi. The machine said it should be awake in fifteen minutes." Dr. Cable stepped closer to the device, triggering another siren.

" _Warning: Subject 81791 has not fully awakened from stasis. Please step back to avoid causing injury to Subject 81791. Repeat: Please step back to avoid causing injury to Subject 81791."_

"Alright then, We'll just have to sit back and wait." Dr. Cable shooed the nurses away, and watched patiently as the figure began to twitch.

* * *

 _"Attention: Subject 81791 has fully awakened from stasis. All vitals are positive. No bone or muscle atrophy has occured. No internal organs have been damaged. Body is intact. Subject 81791 was placed into stasis on: June 6th, 2010. Date is now: UNAVAILABLE. Please commence proper procedures to help Subject 81791 adjust to new environment."_

Dr. Cable awoke with a start. Had she really been that tired? Either way, her nerves danced with excitement as the figure in the suit began to groan and sit up. It certainly sounded human.

"Subject 81791?"

The figure groaned again, lifting the mask off of its head. Light blonde hair tumbled out around the girl's shoulders, and her tired brown eyes blinked as she took in her surroundings. She tried to stand up, but stumbled, and landed ungracefully on the floor. She looked up at Dr. Cable, curiosity shining in her eyes.

"Hi." she said softly. Dr. Cable raised an eyebrow at such a casual greeting.

"State your full name and age." The woman opened up a recording with her skintenna, broadcasting to all the doctors in the hospital.

"Amanda Selene Ikufube. Age 18. 19? I'm not sure. I was 18 when I got turned into a popsicle."

"Okay, Amanda. What year is it?"

"Umm. 2010? I think? We didn't have floaty screens in 2010. What year is it?"

"310. The calendar was reset after your people destroyed the world with their oil-eating bug."

The girl, Amanda looked taken aback. "310? How many years have I been asleep?"

"You've been in stasis for three hundred years." Dr. Cable stated matter-of-factly.

"Th-three _hundred_? Ohh-"

Amanda fainted, and Dr. Cable closed the broadcast, calling for the nurses to take the girl into a recovery room at once.

* * *

"Amanda?"

"Nngh-"

The girl groaned and sat up in the hospital bed, pulling the blanket around her shoulders and hugging one of the large pillows to her chest. She shivered, from the cold or from fear, Dr. Valen couldn't tell.

"I'm so sorry that you hadn't been found sooner. Unfortunately, the disaster of the oil-eating bug probably caused it. You had been put into stasis several months prior to the disaster."

The girl studied Dr. Valen, sadness filling her eyes. "You look just like Christina." she said, a tear falling down her cheek.

"Christina?"

"My best friend Christina. You look like her." Amanda looked out the window, too upset to marvel in the technology of her new world. The last time she'd seen Christina, her best friend was suffering a horrible gunshot wound. What had been her final fate?

"Tell me about Christina."

Amanda blinked back tears. "We had met when I was fourteen, after my father remarried. She and her sisters wanted to start a life of criminality, and I was so angry at my father for replacing my mother that I joined them. She and I were thick as thieves from that first time we met in class. She was a year older than me."

"Why did your father remarry, and why did that upset you so much?"

"My mother and younger brother were killed by his wife's younger sister. She lost control of her car because she so desperately wanted her cheeseburger. Killed my family and died herself two hours later. Serves her right."

Dr. Valen cringed. "Okay, anything else of note you'd like to share?"

"I want to know what happened to Christina, if there's a way."

Dr. Valen nodded. "Tell you what, we will set you up as a citizen first, then we'll see if the archives can pull anything up on her." Dr. Valen slipped an interface ring onto Amanda's index finger and taught her one of the hand flicks to open it.

"Amanda Selene Ikufube, age nineteen. Residence unavailable." Dr. Valen stated loudly and clearly.

 _"Understood."_ the room replied.

"I'll have one of the nurses bring you some food, then you can just rest for the remainder of the day. Tomorrow morning, Dr. Cable will introduce you to our customs and we will place you at a residence soon enough."

Amanda nodded. "Goodbye- um, what's your name?"

"Dr. Christopher Valen." he smiled and left the room, leaving Amanda in shock. Could it be, that man was a descendant of her best friend? Was that why he looked so similar to her?

* * *

 _October 2nd, 310. 7:30:26 AM_

"Dr. Cable?"

The elder woman turned to the ugly girl before her. Her white-blonde hair was tied into a tight bun on the back of her head, her dark brown eyes shone with the same curiosity as when she first awoke. "Do you think the city will like me even though I'm a Rusty?"

"I'm sure they will. Curiosity and amazement will override their fear."

Amanda took in the information and nodded. "You won't tell them I used to be a criminal, will you?"

"Not at all my dear. In fact, once you become a new pretty, your past will be left behind you forever."

"How much of me will change?"

Dr. Cable chuckled. The girl had so many questions, even after two months in the hospital learning about her new environment. "Only your aesthetic qualities, your body's bone structure and muscles, I assure you. We will make you beautiful, strong and healthy. You will never have to worry about anything that plagued your in your previous life ever again."

Amanda finally fell silent as the doors opened the the large crowd in the theater room. The applause and shouts were deafening, and Dr. Cable gave a little nudge to Amanda as she disappeared behind the door. Dr. Valen guided Amanda towards the podium, and the crowd quieted down.

"Citizens of Valencia, we thank you for joining us on this joyous occasion. I, Dr. Christopher Valen present to you the last living Rusty citizen, Amanda Ikufube!"

Amanda felt a pang of grief in her heart. It turned out that Dr. Valen was Christina's great-great-great grandson, and she'd died of breast cancer at the age of 70. She'd never told anyone where Amanda was, and she'd never been reunited with her sisters again.

Dr. Valen gently took Amanda's hand and pulled her forward, waving to the crowd as he did. He appeared to be enjoying the attention.

Amanda stepped up to the podium, her heart pounding. "Hello everyone. My name is Amanda, and well- everything so far has been quite a shock to me. To enter stasis in 2010, and wake up three- hundred years later would be a huge shock to anyone. However unlike most others, I have no family to mourn, as they all died long before I entered stasis. The only person I have to mourn is my best friend Christina Valen, the great-great-great grandmother of our very own Dr. Valen."

A quiet _aww_ sounded through the auditorium. Amanda continued, "Despite this massive culture shock, I am continuing to do my very best to adjust to this lovely society, and I look forward to my surgery. According to Dr. Valen, I am about three years overdue on that, so they will have to make adjustments accordingly. Hopefully they won't have too much work to do because of my Rusty biology."

Another round of applause rang through the auditorium. Amanda was pulled back into the hallway by Dr. Cable, and she followed her to the operating theater; grateful that she hadn't had to come up with some big huge speech. Even her valedictorian's speech had taken several weeks to write.

Inside of the operating room, Dr. Cable changed the display of the wallscreen to the morphos software, handing Amanda a linen backless dressing. Amanda quickly changed into it, and allowed herself to be adjusted in front of the mirror screen by the doctor, shivering uncomfortably at the woman's strange burning hot skin.

"Alright Amanda, lets see how pretty we can make you..."

* * *

 _October 15, 310. 10:45:55 AM_

Amanda stared at her new body in the mirror. She marveled at the new curves of her hips, her breasts, which had always been small, were now more appropriate for a girl of her age. She finally had the body of an eighteen year old. Nineteen year old, she kept forgetting she'd had her birthday before she was rescued from the Lazarus Device. She giggled softy, remembering her sleepy requests of a body fit for a young adult woman with the cutest Hartman hips surgery could give.

Her eyes traveled up to her face, now heart-shaped with full pink lips, bright green eyes and a cute button nose. Strawberry blonde curls tumbled down her shoulders, each one shiny and soft.

"I'm so pretty." she whispered.

After she was dressed, the nurses herded her out to a waiting hovercar that would take her to her new home in Komachi Mansion. The room was named Ame, after her mother, and they had even used voice clips from old news broadcasts to make the room sound like her. The city had done everything it could to make Amanda comfortable.

* * *

 _October 20, 310. 12:15:05 PM_

Amanda laid in bed, bored out of her mind. Nothing in this city was fun. Her old neighborhood had arcades left and right, a bowling alley, video game tourneys, everything that this boring city didn't have.

Making clothes was boring. All the parties she'd been invited to were boring. All the other teens here were boring. It made Amanda miss the days of robbing stores and living in the lap of luxury.Despite having done it illegally, she'd earned her way into all the Ritz-Carltons and Four Seasons, it wasn't just given to her. It kept her busy.

She sat up in bed, a determined look on her face. She knew what she had to do now.

* * *

"So Amanda, tell us all about what it was like when you were Rusty."

A group of Pretties surrounded her, and Amanda preened. Her dress was obnoxious, but for a good reason. She had to prove to everyone that there was more to her than just her pretty face.

"Well, it was pretty basic. For most of my life, I went to school and did all of my assignments like a good little girl. When I was fourteen, all of that changed. I met the most amazing girls, the Valen sisters. Christina and I became best friends, and we all started a life of crime together. We were thieves, and we thrived. Most people would see us, a group of teenage girls, and pay us no mind. That's when we struck."

By then, only a few of the group remained, two girls and a guy. One girl had short brown hair and green eyes, one had medium red-brown hair and silver eyes, the guy had blue black hair and gold eyes. Amanda could tell that these pretties were different from the rest.

"So," the guy said, "you were a criminal?"

Amanda smiled. "Still am."

* * *

 _Author's Note: Earlier in the chapter, Amanda is reffered to as "Subject 81791". The first person to correctly guess why this is will have a cameo in a future chapter. Your hint is to reread the first chapter._


	3. Chapter 3

The Crims were cool, but they weren't _criminal_. Not really, anyway.

Amanda sat on the very edge of Garbo Mansion's many balconies, preening as the bubbleheads stared at her in her two piece business casual outfit. She stood out amongst the other Pretties, who were all wearing tuxes and ballgowns. Exactly what she wanted. When Zane and Tally arrived, she didn't want them to have to look for very long.

"Hello."

Amanda turned towards the unfamiliar voice. A gorgeous young man stood before her, his long brown ponytail resting over his shoulder drew her attention, not many male pretties had long hair like him. His eyes were brown, his face chiseled and strong, his impish smile interested her. Was he planning something?

"Hello to you too. Do I know you?"

His grin widened. "My name is Aki. I'm supposed to keep you company until Zane and Tally arrive. They're running late."

Amanda shrugged. "I'm fiiine. I'm a big girl."

"Indeed you are. You'll be twenty next year, like me. We can finally leave this boring place."

Amanda perked up. Finally, someone her age! "You think this place is a drag too?! Finally, someone who can relate to me!"

Aki chuckled, joining her on the balcony. "Yeah, it was fun times for about two seconds. The idea of making whatever clothes you want and being surrounded by vapid people at vapid parties started slowly chipping away at my sanity about two years ago. I was so glad when I found the Crims at first, because they were the only group here who wanted to do non-bogus things."

"But, then you found out they weren't as criminal as they claimed?" Amanda gave him a sympathetic smile.

"You would know, being an actual Rusty criminal. You do something bad here, you'll get a slap on the wrist at worse. From what I heard, the things you did back then would have gotten you thrown in jail."

"Prison," Amanda corrected, "Jail is for people who steal $400, prison is for people like me who have robbed so many stores that I could have eventually bought this whole building had my stepmother not caught me."

"The _whole_ building? Really?" Aki was stunned.

"Okay, I am exaggerating, but I stole a lot of money and jewelry. I had at least 100k by the time I got caught." _$127,566 to be exact._

The two of them sat there in silence for a while, looking over the balcony for Tally and Zane. After another fifteen minutes, Amanda looked towards Aki, a mischievous smile adorning her face. "Hey, you wanna go back to my room? Get the know each other a little better?" Amanda winked at him, earning a low chuckle.

"You know what, that sounds much more fun than spending all afternoon waiting for King and Queen Crim." The two of them left Garbo, Amanda calling a car to take them back to Komachi.

As the car came closer to the mansion, Amanda couldn't deny her growing attraction to Aki. It wasn't like she was falling in love with him, she'd barely even known him for an hour, but she could tell that he, like herself, wanted something more than what New Pretty Town had to offer.

 _"Welcome home, Amanda-la."_ The room welcomed them. Amanda gestured with her ring to play music, a gentle classical tune. With an eye click, the curtains slid open, allowing the afternoon sun to illuminate the room.

"So, how did you find yourself mixed up with criminals?" Aki asked, sitting at the edge of the giant pink bed.

"Ugh, haven't you heard that story a million times already? I'm sure I've told it that many times."

"A million different times from a million different people. All except the person who originally told the story." Aki said, smirking.

Amanda sighed, and laid on the bed, snuggling into a pillow. "I'm not telling you everything."

"Why not?"

Amanda rolled her eyes. "I hate sounding like a broken record."

Aki took her hand and squeezed it gently. "So how about this. Tell me your story in a way you haven't told it before. Tell me like- like a Rusty telling their littlies a bedtime story."

"I hate bedtime stories, but alright. I'll give it a shot. Once upon a time..."

* * *

 _Once upon a time, there was a young girl- nah, a young princess named Amanda. She had two parents who loved her and an adorable little brother, Prince Shotaro. King Christian and Queen Ame were a happy couple, and did all they could for their little prince and princess, but their happiness didn't last. One day, the queen took the little prince to the market with her, when a coach driver, an idiot teenager, crashed into their carriage and killed them._

 ** _I've never heard this part before. I'm so sorry._**

 _Shush you, I haven't finished. Anyway, the little princess mourned her mother and brother, and was displeased when her father married another woman, a rich queen named Tamara. What the king didn't know, was that the new queen's younger sister was the driver who killed his wife and son._

 ** _WHAT?!_**

 _Aki..._

 ** _I'm sorry. Continue._**

 _As I was saying, this fact caused the young princess to hate her new stepmother. The princess met a few peasant girls who wished for a better life, no matter what they had to do to attain it. The princess fell into a life of crime, and she enjoyed it. She loved the thrill of theft, and the more she got away with, the closer she saw her freedom from her broken family. Unfortunately, she was caught by her stepmother, but because the princess was so close to freedom, she decided to have her friends scare her stepmother away. The youngest of the peasant girls, Christina, was the only one who stayed by Princess Amanda's side. Her sisters went into hiding after doing away with the new queen, and the two girls ran away to start a new life._

 ** _Wait, I thought you just scared her away. You're starting to make it sound like Mrs. Lazarus was killed._**

 _Aki!_

 ** _Shutting up._**

 _Where was I? Oh yeah, after the death of the king, Princess Amanda tried to reclaim her kingdom, when the stepmother reappeared, injuring Christina and trying to do the same to the princess. However, the stepmother was a dumb bitch and the princess is awesome and knocked her out._

 ** _Pfffft!_**

 _AHEM!_ _It was then that the princess made a difficult decision. She knew her mother had a magic coffin and a book of spells. However, she'd never attempted anything in the book before, and had barely any understanding of how the magic coffin worked. If she did something wrong, she could end up dead instead of in an eternal sleep. She also discovered the stepmother's attempt to copy the queen's book and claim it as her own. So-_

 ** _That's awful!_**

 _Goddamn you, Aki!_

 ** _Sorry, sorry! So, how did the princess figure out how the coffin worked?_**

 _She trusted in herself and her mother. She and Christina toiled over the book, and when they found the correct spell to work with the coffin, they left a parchment letting the world know what the stepmother had done. Finally, the princess was to be laid to sleep, but not without instructions on how to be woken up. The last thing she remembered before the start of her slumber was her hope to be found by someone. She didn't expect to be found three-hundred years later._

 ** _Is the princess happy?_**

* * *

Amanda frowned. Was she happy? Her entire family was dead, and all she had left of Christina was Dr. Valen, and because he was in his forties, and super weird like all of the other adults who weren't Dr. Cable, she didn't like him. Of course, she reminded herself all the time that Christina had nothing to do with his upbringing, having been long dead by then, and she tried not to be abrasive towards her best friend's descendant.

"I-don't know. I've only been in New Pretty Town for two weeks. I mean, I feel like the most interesting thing I've done was apply for medical school so once I leave New Pretty Town, I can start learning about the surgery and maybe be one of the doctors who gets to perform it."

"Really? I applied to be a warden. At first, I wanted to be a firefighter, but they basically do nothing. I've never actually heard of them having to put out a fire."

"Yeah, because this city is so exquisitely idiot-proof. You have to _try_ to get hurt. What kind of fun is that?"

Aki scooted closer to her, wrapping his hand around hers once more. "I agree, so I have a proposition for you."

Amanda raised an eyebrow. "What are we talking?"

"I can't say here. Meet me in the pleasure garden nearest to Komachi Mansion at 11:30 tonight. Oh, and leave your ring behind. It has ears."

Amanda nodded in approval. "I am intrigued. I'll meet you then."

Aki stood up, and walked to the door. Before exiting, he looked back at her. "You know, I really hope the princess finds happiness soon."

Amanda smiled sadly. "Me too."


	4. Chapter 4

Dr. Cable ended the video feed from the cameras in Amanda's room, trying to hold in her chuckles before finally laughing heartily. It would have been a rare sight, if not for the fact that the two colleagues who were in her presence had seen this side of her many times before in their careers.

Dr. Valen and Maxamilla Feaster waited patiently for Dr. Cable's laughter to subside, understanding completely what had caused the woman's outburst. After all, they'd _all_ underestimated the Rusty girl. They'd assumed once she'd gotten the lesions that she would be just as clueless as any other bubblehead. As the video feed had just shown them, they had been wrong.

" _Amazing!_ " Dr. Cable said joyously. "She's been in New Pretty Town for all of two weeks and she's _already_ trying to escape. It's true what the little Crims have been whispering, she's more of a criminal than they'll ever be!"

This set her off again, and this time, Christopher and Maxamilla joined her in laughter. It had a running joke between the three of them how long it would take for Amanda to rebel, but none of them had guessed it would happen this quickly.

"So Matilda, are we going to let her run off with them?" Maxamilla asked.

Dr. Cable nodded confidently. "I'm sure that with the addition of the Ikufube Anomaly, Tally Youngblood will try to escape again. Hopefully, Shay and Zane will join them. I did also have another idea."

"Really? I'm curious, I know you've wanted to add her to your project since the day we found her. What are your plans?" Dr. Valen asked.

"She's asked me many questions about the Special surgery. What it enhances, our physical construct, our more advanced eyescreens, the like. She wants what I'm offering, even if she doesn't realize the offer is on the table. My hope is that her influence will help sway Tally and Shay to our side."

"That's if she's willing to try. She's already become bored of them." Feaster mused.

"Maxamilla, I have every confidence that Amanda can and will help us. The first person she ever interacted with was me, and I find she's become attached to me, in a sense. When she's here, she's most comfortable around me. I'm most certain that should I mention the Smoke has been stealing our children, she'll do everything she can to make sure Tally and Shay come to our side. If not, then I'm also certain that she'll be more than happy to sabotage their escape attempt. She is, after all, bored of them, as you stated."

"Well, I certainly hope this works in your favor, Matilda." Dr. Valen smiled as his long-time friend.

"I'm sure it will, Christopher. I will inform you both when I have my next meeting with her."

"Until then."

* * *

Amanda lay back in her bed, head spinning wildly. She'd just found out the importance of her meeting with Tally and Zane. They'd told her of another place, somewhere in the wild, where the city's influence would hopefully be unable to touch.

The Smoke.

 _The Smoke._

Since that meeting in the Rusty Ruins earlier that night, Amanda had kept repeating those words over and over again. It wasn't an arcade, it sure as hell was no Ritz-Carlton or Four Seasons. The selling point was where they had mentioned earning her living and never having a moment to be bored. If you weren't working, there were other ways to relax, and Amanda was looking forward to swimming in her free time. She was also excited to know that they made their own clothes as opposed to machines doing it for them.

What was not to love?

Tally had looked down in shame when she told the story of Dr. Cable blackmailing her into betraying Shay and David, how she'd come to love the Smoke, and her big mistake that lead to its destruction. How to repent for what she'd done, she'd given herself up to the city to test the cure that Shay had refused to take.

Zane had then told both Amanda and Aki that they were planning a big trick soon, one that involved the floating ice-skating rink at Nefertiti Stadium and a looooot of vodka.

"Are you seriously going to deface a city construct? You'd better hope no one gets clonked on the head by a piece of ice!" she'd protested.

After having to explain that 'clonk' was Rusty slang for 'hit', Zane tried to assure her that no clonking would ensue.

She had agreed to play part in the trick after imagining the serious adrenaline rush she would experience from it all. It would give them a boost in morale before they tried running away again.

She was brought out of her reminiscing by the room notifying her that she had a ping.

 _"Hello, Amanda,"_ The ping began as Dr. Cable's commanding voice filtered into the room, causing Amanda to blush, _"I am contacting you for two reasons. One being your weekly checkup. Two being an interesting conversation you were involved in that was overheard. I wish to meet with you at the earliest convenience._

 _Best regards-_

 _Dr. Cable"_

Amanda bit her lip. She'd left her ring in her room both when meeting with Aki in the pleasure garden as well as the meeting with Tally and Zane in the Ruins. On top of that, her emotions toward the wolf-woman had changed. She'd once very much liked Dr. Cable, but knowing what she'd done to Tally, knowing that her experiments in neurosurgery had killed someone, made her now wary of her once favorite surgeon. Now the question was, what exactly had the woman overheard, and how?

"Um, ping Dr. Cable. Dr. Cable, this is Amanda. I would be more than happy to meet with you, would eight 'o clock this morning suffice?"

She sent the ping, glancing at her holo-clock which read 3:42 AM.

 _Ping. "Amanda, eight 'o clock is fine. I will see you then. Rest well."_

Amanda sighed, and snuggled into her bed as best she could, not drifting off to sleep for another hour.

* * *

"Have a seat, Amanda."

Amanda slid into a chair, blearily eyeing Dr. Valen and Subcommander Feaster warily. She could understand Dr. Valen's presence, him being an anthropologist and all, but there was no real reason for Subcommander Feaster to be there, unless she was supposed to be extra muscle.

 _'As if Dr. Cable can't handle me herself...'_ Amanda thought, flashing back to when she'd first asked how Dr. Cable's age affected her muscles. The woman had almost seemed offended that Amanda had implied that her strength was waning due to her being a middle-pretty, and was more than happy to lift the screaming Rusty over her shoulder and run the length of Circumstances three times over. True, she'd huffed and puffed when it was over, but one doesn't generally carry people over their shoulder when they're busy running a city.

Speaking of cities... "As you know, we had cameras placed in your room to monitor your integration into our society. Imagine my concern and amazement to find that only two weeks in, you're trying to run away."

Amanda just stared at her. How in the hell had they heard any more than what was said in the room? Aki never mentioned running away until they were in the Ruins.

Dr. Cable must have seen some emotion betrayed in her face, judging from the smug sharp-toothed smirk and the chilling statement that was made, "My dear Amanda, you didn't think the surveillance ended with your room, did you?"

Amanda clenched her hands into fists, her nails digging into her delicate skin. "So where are the rest of the bugs? My eyes? My ears? My brain? Are you going to kill me in another futile attempt to erase someone's memories? The lesions weren't good enough for you?"

Dr. Cable chuckled mirthlessly. "Your hoverboard. Surely you would think I learned from my last mistake? After all, I didn't operate on you without your consent, did I?"

" _You operated on my fucking brain without my consent!_ I'm nothing more than a test subject to you freaks!"

Dr. Cable sighed. "This is true, but allow me to reassure you that you're so much more than just a test subject to me, dear. I'd hoped that once you were entered into medical school after you turned twenty, I would take you in as my protege. Of course, I understand if you no longer wish for that."

"I'd rather take my chances in the wild."

"You'd rather live with a group of people who have no concern for the Earth? People who kill animals for food, that clear-cut the land, who burn trees on a regular basis? They're chewing up the wild, and after we spent so long restoring our planet, they have the nerve to go about destroying it all over again and call themselves the _good_ guys." The woman's face twisted in anger. "Without the operation, without the lesions, the entire planet will look just like the ruins of _your_ society. Is that really what you want?"

Amanda bit her lip, fighting back tears. When Dr. Cable put it that way- _no!_ That didn't justify taking away people's free will!

"Of course I don't want that, but I also want my free will! I don't want this brain damage, and neither does anyone else in this city whose brains you've fried!"

The woman simply smiled again. "Then why don't we make a deal?"

"Like you made a 'deal' with Tally? You can forget that."

"How rude of you to refuse my offer before I've even laid it out on the table. I suppose if you're _that_ opposed to how our city works, I could just put you back into the Lazarus Device, and you can sleep for another three centuries, or maybe Tally and her precious Smokies will finish what your people started, and you'll be frozen in stasis forever."

Amanda swallowed hard, and began to tremble. She couldn't go back in that thing, she wouldn't. Even if all of her functions were shut down and she would be unaware of anything outside of the Lazarus Device, the thought of possibly never being found, frozen forever instead of for a few centuries, completely alone with no one to remember her...

Amanda swallowed down the bile that had begun to inch up her throat. She now knew Tally's dilemma, but instead of the vain desire to be beautiful forever, this was the desperation to have a life worth living.

"F-fine. What do you want?"

Dr. Cable smiled frighteningly, and began to lay out the bargain. "I want you to run away with the Crims to the Smoke. You will be provided with a solar-charging hoverboard, although that is the extent of the assistance I will provide. After all, Tally and Shay are experienced runaways, they can help with the rest."

"And-when I get there?"

"We will arrive early the next morning. After all, we don't want to alarm the Smokies, we want them captured. I will not allow them to destroy our way of life, our peaceful time."

"And if I agree to this?"

"Then I will give you and the Crims the whole of the wild. I'll make you all Special. Not just any Specials, the first human beings in a thousand years designed to live in the wild. My special Specials."

Dr. Cable pushed a folder towards Amanda, who eyed it with trepidation.

"It's merely my files on the surgery. Since you've made it clear that you don't want to be operated on without consent, I feel it's only necessary that you know what will be done to you under the knife." The woman added a mocking tone to the later statement, earning her a glare from the girl.

Amanda's eyes widened, this was bleeding edge medical technology, she could only imagine her dearly departed parents _drooling_ over these files. If what Dr. Cable was saying was true, if this was her _reward_ for helping get rid of the Smoke...

"I'll do it, but on one condition, only one."

Dr. Cable raised an eyebrow. "Go on..."

"I want you to get rid of Zane's headaches. You obviously know he and Tally have been cured of their lesions. I want him cured of his headaches. I want him right as rain before we escape."

"Alright. I accept your condition. We'll have him brought in tomorrow morning for testing and we'll go from there. Now, do we have a deal?"

"We do."


	5. Chapter 5

Amanda stared in the mirror, conflicting emotions racing through her head. Should she, or shouldn't she?

If she betrayed the Crims, they'd never forgive her if they found out, Tally and Shay especially. She didn't necessarily care for them like she'd cared for Christina, but they deserved their freedom.

 _'But think of the gift you'll get in exchange.'_ the little voice in her head had reminded her. _'Think of how strong and beautiful you'll be. Think of how you'll be ruling the wild and protecting it at the same time. Isn't that worth it?'_

If she didn't betray the Crims, the Smoke would have the chance to fully rebuild if they hadn't already. They could be free of the city forever, and they could still have part of the wild.

 _'Yes, you'll still have part of the wild, at least, until the Smokies decide they want to destroy that too. Imagine that, a second society of neanderthals, fighting with one another day in and day out, killing the wildlife to sustain themselves, shitting in holes everywhere. That may be the only good thing the Smoke provides, a disgusting way to fertilize the Earth.'_

Amanda sighed heavily. She wanted more, but she didn't know whose side she was on anymore. She'd lived life as a Rusty after all, a fact that Dr. Cable wouldn't stop reminding her of. Every time she looked out at the city, she could see how far this society had come, seeing how peaceful the Pretties were compared to everyone she'd ever known. No one made catty comments about each other's looks because everyone was beautiful. No one got in fights with each other because they were too busy partying and drinking to care about being mad about anything. No one had to steal because they were given it all. She thought back to the day she was officially introduced to the city, how Dr. Cable told her she'd never have to live as a criminal again.

 _'The Crims pride themselves on breaking the rules in the name of clarity. Is that what I want, to be a thief all over again? Do I want to live in the Smoke and steal the wild from the entire planet? Do I want to destroy lives on a global scale as opposed to a city-wide scale?'_

Amanda looked into the mirror again, taking in her big green eyes and bombshell blonde locks, her pouty lips and button nose. She imagined her eyes more upturned and vulpine, her lips hiding a vicious sharp-toothed smile, her nose pointed and no longer cutely upturned.

 _'I could be a planet-destroying Barbie doll or a feral super-soldier that protects all life. Which life is worth living?'_

"Amanda?"

She didn't turn around at the sound of Tally's voice. She'd made her decision, one that the Crims wouldn't like.

"I'm ready." Were the last words she'd said to Tally that night.

* * *

Amanda sat stock still in a corner of the observatory just outside the Rusty Ruins. The observatory in question was one she'd gone on a few trips to with her parents as a child. Memories came rushing back, and it was only her silence and tensed muscles that kept her from crying and throwing whatever she could get her hands on, screaming at these fucking morons who were slowly on their way to eradicating human life a second time.

In another room, she could hear Tally and Shay arguing with the mysterious David and Maddy, who didn't believe she was actually the last living Rusty. She didn't exactly blame them, considering she had the same doe eyes and plump lips and perfect body as the rest of the Crims. She'd been too shell-shocked by her demolished childhood to defend herself.

"I'm telling you the truth David, we both are! Tell me, David, how many people named Amanda have you met in your life? How many people have you met who talks like she does? She even _looked_ different as an ugly compared to all of us! Why would I have to lie about something as big as this?"

"Oh, you mean how the last time you lied to me, you ended up killing my father? All because you wanted to be pretty? Now you're trying to tell me that you have a Rusty in your group, a Rusty with the same cookie-cutter face as you and the rest of your friends? How do I know you're not using her as a distraction so you can destroy everything again? How do I-"

Amanda began to see red. She stood up slowly, her fists clenched, her brows furrowed, her teeth bared. It wasn't Tally's fault, it wasn't her fault, it wasn't-

Amanda didn't feel her fist connect with David's face. She didn't feel her throat ripped raw by the scream she let out. She only wished she had her switchblade, just as a scare tactic. After she'd stabbed Tamara Lazarus in the shoulder all those centuries ago, she realized she was no murderer, but she could still make an adult piss themselves in fear.

Amanda hoisted David up by his shirt collar, and shoved him up against the wall, pressing her forearm into his neck so she wouldn't have to hear his stupid voice again.

"Listen here forest-muncher. I could give a fuck less what you have to say about me, but one thing you will _never_ do again is call Tally Youngblood a murderer! She did not open up your father's skull and operate on his brain, that was all Dr. Cable. In case you've forgotten, Tally helped you ungrateful shits fight back against Special Circumstances. She gave herself up to test your mother's cure, knowing full well that anything could have gone wrong, that she could have died, or worse, ended up as a vegetable. She did that to make up for what she did, for her mistake. If you ever call her a murderer again, I will beat you black and blue, do I make myself quite clear?"

David gave as much of a nod as he could, and satisfied, Amanda shoved him to the floor and returned to her corner, breathing heavily as she clenched her head in her hands.

Special Circumstances couldn't get there fast enough.

* * *

 _"I know you can hear me. Now would be a good time to head over here. I'm pretty sure everyone here is asleep, and I took out the night guard with a headlock and have him tied up a few miles away from the observatory. Figured I'd help out a little more. It'd have been nice if you'd sent me out here with a sedative or something. It's more difficult to escape when you're sleeping after all, and that headlock took a lot out of me since dude was taller and more muscular than me, and my only advantage was me sneaking up on him._

 _You wouldn't believe this D.C., but the Smokies have city tech. Like, not just the same bug scanners and power jacks Tally told me about initially. I found sneak suits and weapons. I couldn't hide it all, so I had to move it somewhere else. You've got to confiscate this stuff before you nab them, or they'll just escape again. Please hurry!"_

Matilda Cable was furious. Diego had to be helping the Smokies, how else could they have gotten that kind of technology? She was glad Amanda had found it all (the woman hoped), that would have been quite the nasty surprise to see disappearing, armed Smokies.

"You've done well, my little Rusty. Let's see how well you do after your surgery." The woman mused as she began to round up the foot soldiers, each one grabbing a hoverboard and disappearing into the slowly rising dawn.

"I think we've finally done it, Maxamilla. I think this is finally it." The two women acquired their own hovercar, and began to follow the signal sent from Amanda's hoverboard.

* * *

Amanda sat in the back of a hovercar, nursing her horrifying nosebleed that seemed like it just wouldn't stop. David had gotten revenge for her earlier punch before he was knocked out by one of the Specials, slugging her in the face when he'd caught her running towards Dr. Cable and Subcommander Feaster. Every so often, she'd let out an angry sniff in a futile attempt to suck the blood back up. She could her her mother scolding her in the back of her head, but she didn't care. Right now, all she wanted was for David to be chopped up and made into a mindless pretty. She didn't care how many lesions it took, she wanted him to spend the rest of his life trying and failing to clear his head. She wanted him to have no mouth but a constant need to scream.

"That's what you and your mom get for trying to destroy the planet, David." She sniffed again.

"If you keep sniffing like that, your nose won't stop bleeding." Subcommander Feaster said, handing her a clean cloth to catch the blood with. "Lean forward and pinch your nose closed for ten minutes, when the bleeding stops, I'll see if there's any bad damage. We can get you fully cleaned up once we're back at Headquarters."

"And speaking of cleaning up, you did a good job of gathering all of their city tech. I was surprised that you'd actually found it all."

Amanda really didn't have much to say at the moment, still focused on her bleeding nose. She gave an annoyed grunt.

Sometime later, Subcommander Feaster swiveled her chair around and began to tend to Amanda. The bleeding had stopped, and up the Rusty's nose went a spray that caused the caked up blood to fall away into powder. After a bit of poking and prodding with the occasional pained growl, Feaster gave her another once-over, and decided Amanda needed no further attention.

"Thank you." The girl had said quietly. "For everything."

"I should be thanking you. We can finally put the Smoke to rest for good."

"I do wonder, you were so reluctant to help us before. You seem to have little reservation now." Subcommander Feaster noted.

"It's one thing to hear about the horrible things us Rusties did to the Earth. It's a whole new experience when you see the crumbling ruins of your childhood in person. The roller coaster, the observatory, everything. Tally and Shay were boarding on the roller coaster as if it were just a toy to play with as opposed to a literal representation of the destruction of my society."

"I see. Well, they'll be growing up soon. Just sit tight, Amanda. You deserve a day off."

"You're damn right."


	6. Important Note

_**Hello readers, ReikoMizutani here.**_

 _ **i just wanted to post an update to the fanfics I'm truly dedicated to. This means that if a fanfic doesn't have this post, it's getting deleted. I'm adding small tweaks to my works as my writing style evolves. I've come to realize that my writing is kind of lazy. I've noticed far too many continuity errors that I've kept saying I'd fix but eventually put it in the back of my mind. I've been reading over my fics again, deciding to stick more with works that I've had going for years that I've rewritten over and over. One older fic I posted I haven't even thought about for years, so that one is definitely getting reworked.**_

 _ **Anywho, expect some chapters to look different soon!**_


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